I’ve known about Ken Paves talent and hair powers since Jessica Simpson was starring in her “Newlyweds” reality show back in 2003. Jessica Simpson is known for having some of the most luscious, beautiful hair in the business, and the man responsible for that is none other than Ken! His brand new book, You Are Beautiful: A Beauty Guide For Real Women is a refreshing, thoughtful, candidly honest take on the beauty industry and how to accept your natural beauty and work with it, not against it. Come with me on a virtual book tour inside this amazing new book…

[This review features press sample(s) sent for consideration.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ken Paves has worked with a host of incredible female celebrities. He’s worked with Eva Longoria, Jessica Simpson, and Victoria Beckham just to name a few. All of them have incredible hair and ooze glamor endlessly. What I love about Ken’s approach to this book is that he goes on to speak about REAL women. Women like you and me. Women who work, have jobs, take care of the kids, and don’t have endless amounts of money or time to look like a million bucks all the time. His take on the beauty industry is that the worship of “perfection” most women have of celebrities and models is just plain wrong. He has worked so many of his career years doing makeovers on REAL women for The Oprah Winfrey Show and various other publications. In the introduction, he highlights several REAL women who have impacted him along his journey in life and career, and he uses them throughout his book as examples and models. It’s refreshing to see a beauty book be so down-to-earth and speak straight to the average REAL woman’s heart.

 

 

 

 

That being said, we all want to feel and look our best, and Ken really gives you some amazing beauty tips. If Victoria Beckham approves, I approve. He starts off in the beginning of the book with an autobiography. I actually really appreciate this because a lot of beauty books never let us get to know the author and where that person is coming from. It helped me understand that Ken Paves was a struggling, broke artist at one point who worked his tail off to make ends meet and live his dream. He comes off as humble and extremely genuine, and you can tell he still identifies with that middle-class Michigan upbringing.

 

 

 

Inside the book, there are gorgeous color photographs of the real women in his life. One of my favorite parts of the book is the quotes he places at the beginning of chapters. They are motivational quotes and I absolutely love them. He works to not only gain your trust in his expertise in the book, but also build your confidence in yourself before he ever gets to his tips and tricks. What an important life lesson to learn!

 

 

 

 

Ken gives incredible tips inside the book on hair. Obviously! He is the hair guru. He touches upon shampoo and conditioner and how we often use these products too much. He believes in shampooing just the roots of hair and leaving the rest of your head alone so you don’t dry it out. He also gives amazing tips about using olive oil as a hair mask treatment. He uses olive oil on his clients all the time, by spritzing a mixture of olive oil and water into their hair, letting it sit overnight, and then washing and styling as normal the next day.

 

 

 

 

I love the chapter in which he goes into depth about the types of styles you can achieve with ease. He recognizes that most women don’t have a personal stylist in their home every morning and that we are busy individuals! He shows and explains some incredibly chic hair styles that you can achieve and gives tips throughout. One of the best tips I took from the styling portion is to always use cool air to “lock” your hairstyle in place. Warm air opens the cuticle of the hair, and cold air seals it. So whenever you’re finished styling your hair, give your hair a cool blast of air from your blow dryer, and it will stay in place. It’s little hair-changing tips like these that Ken gives throughout that book that will change my beauty routine forever.

 

 

 

 

What makes this book such a winner is the combination of Ken’s fantastic hair tips and styles along with the approach of speaking to the “everyday woman.” Yes, he shows you how to be glamorous and get the star-studded looks he does as well, but he also makes it clear that it’s perfectly fine to work with your natural hair texture and flaunt what you were born with. It’s not written in a way that is at all snobby or above your head. In fact, while reading the book, I often felt that he was speaking directly to me, as if he were in front of me, doing my hair in person. I appreciate his humility in life, even throughout all of his accomplishments, and this is what makes him so fantastic at what he does. He recognizes that beauty is important to all of us, but beauty comes from a dash of glamor and a load of natural beauty.

 

 

 

 

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in hair and beauty. Ken also touches upon makeup and clothes in the book. He shows you hair that you can achieve in your bathroom and gives practical tips on how to achieve the styles. If you’re looking for a down-to-earth star, Ken Paves is it. His humility, philanthropy, and eagerness to work with real women puts him ahead in his game. Oh, and I’m pretty sure if Victoria Beckham thinks he’s fabulous, I do too!

 

 

 

Ken Paves You Are Beautiful: A Beauty Guide For Real Women is available at bookstores nationwide and was released on June 4th, 2013. You can also purchase this book via Amazon online. This book is going on display in my beauty shelves because not only is it a great read, but it’s a fantastic guide for great hair.

 

 

[ALL PHOTOGRAPHY ON THIS SITE IS TAKEN BY REBECCA KAZIMIR. NO PHOTOGRAPHS ARE TO BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION.]

 

 

 

 

 

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